U of A invention could help prevent chronic pain for wheelchair users

A University of Alberta researcher is hoping his new invention will reduce some of the negative long-term health effects of using a wheelchair.

Dr. Martin Ferguson-Pell is with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine.

He tells the Alberta Morning News, “The Redliner” is like the tachometer you’d find in your car, except for wheelchairs.

“If you remember you’ve got an area on that which is what we call ‘The Red Zone’, and that’s when you rev your car too hard and you can cause damage to the engine.” says Ferguson-Pell. “And so that’s why we call it Redliner, because essentially what we’re trying to do, is prevent people from pushing their wheelchair so hard, that they start to run the risk of repetitive injuries to their shoulders and arms.”

Ferguson-Pell hopes it’s a resource that will help people new to using a wheelchair, to save them a lot of pain in the future.

“Sometimes they can overdo it,” he says, “and this results in long-term injuries to their shoulders, and their arms, and their wrists and so on. And this can be obviously a very serious additional disability, a piled on top of an existing disability.”

Ferguson-Pell says the Redliner can help in several areas, including promoting better wheelchair design, and finding more efficient pushing techniques for wheelchair users. (ms, Alberta Morning News)